To not be able to feed 3 extra adults unexpectedly for lunch?

[ImFree2doasiwant]

I'm single, with 2 small children. I do a weekly meal plan and shop once a week.

If 3 extra adults dropped in for lunch, I'd either be able to feed them but have to go shopping again, or not have enough food in to feed them at all.

Its not like I can't afford to, I just buy the food that we, as a family, will eat. I have a small freezer. I could probably manage dinner better.

Am I that unusual?

Why do you ask this question OP?

Like you we don't eat much bread, so sandwiches would be out.

Like others I have a huge freezer stash, so although would have enough quantity, the menu might be random!

@arethereanyleftatall

Well you're totally different to me, but I have no idea which of us is more Unusual. I always have a fully stocker larder and full chest freezer. I never meal plan (never heard of it before mumsnet), just do a weekly shop for fresh fruit/veg/dairy and whatever bargains are there for my larder/freezer. So, of an evening, I decide then and there what we're having. It works for me.

I'm very much like this. I haven't a clue what is in my freezer either. I freeze everything, don't waste if I can at all help it. I reckon I could knock something up. But I don't think you're unusual OP :)

I could, but it wouldn't be fresh food. It would be a store cupboard meal. I bake bread quite often so usually have the ingredients to make a loaf if I had time. Otherwise, it would be three bean chilli, pasta and tinned tuna or fish fillets and frozen chips out of the freezer.

Did 3 people turn up at your house for lunch?

I always have bread, cheese, tomatoes, eggs in plus tins of beans and stuff in the freezer. So I could easily feed 3 extra adults for lunch.

Tins of tomatoes and pasta. I could feed an army.

If 3 adults popped round they can have a cup of tea each

@speakout I was just wondering if it is as unusual as has been implied to me. I live very rural, my family all live close to each other, away from me. I tend to meet friends out, rather than at home. So I rarely get drop in visitors

I suppose I meant sandwiches, as that's what the visitors on question would eat. I always have plenty of food, just not really sandwich stuff to spare. Sometimes I don't have much milk (use a milkman, most of the milk is used on children's breakfast. ) i don't waste food, I'm not on the breadline.

I think people often equate not having surplus food as an indicator of poverty

Hmmm, difficult.
Generally I avoid visiting people at meal times and would bot expect to be fed.

Some people are on a very strict budget and account for every penny (nothing wrong with that).

I do have spare tin food and pack of cheese so could rustle up a sandwich(egg or tuna)

OP, if money is no problem, would you consider stocking up a bit?

Just in case you’re unwell the day before you do your shopping, at least you’d have someting

I always have plenty of cheese, tomatoes, pasta, eggs and milk so would have the ingredients for a pasta bake of some sort. Either with a tomato sauce or cheese or mixed veg. Maybe a carbonara if I had bacon or pancetta. There are often steaks in the freezer because I buy a whole fillet and cut it into individual steaks and I normally have potatoes so with a couple of hours notice I could probably do a steak dinner with bearnaise sauce. And I always have ingredients for a salad. I'd be fine.

Am I that unusual?

Different to me. I meal plan, know exactly what food is in the house and how long it has been there. At a pinch, I could probably feed an extra three adults three meals a day for a fortnight if I needed to.

As long as they weren't pain in the bum fussy eaters of any persuasion.

I wouldn’t have sandwich stuff as we don’t eat sandwiches. I’d be able to feed them though. We have a freezer full of batch cooked meals like chilli/curry/soups etc.
But if you’re just talking about sandwiches then yes, I’m the same as you.

If it could be an issue in the future just put a loaf in the freezer if you want to.
Your home, your rules.

I would always be able to feed an awful lot of people.

But I come from a big family who are used to catering for the masses and I have always got freezer, fridge and cupboards full.

It's been quite handy over lockdown to realise that now there are only three of us at home when I make a huge meal out of habit that I can freeze half of it and we've got a meal for some point in the next couple of weeks or so.

Everybody's circumstances and habits are different though.

Lasagne, pie, bolognese etc and garlic bread from the freezer, yes.

Butties and salad probably not. I buy enough for DSs packed lunches and my salads. If DH ate sandwiches and salad too then yes, because then I'd buy enough for four days worth of 12 hour shifts at a time on top.

@arethereanyleftatall

Well you're totally different to me, but I have no idea which of us is more Unusual. I always have a fully stocker larder and full chest freezer. I never meal plan (never heard of it before mumsnet), just do a weekly shop for fresh fruit/veg/dairy and whatever bargains are there for my larder/freezer. So, of an evening, I decide then and there what we're having. It works for me.

I'm exactly the same-we seldom know in advance what we fancy.

I shop to a meal plan but I do make sure I have some just in case bits in the house incase of bad weather, or illness or similar so would use those. It would probably be pasta and some kind of simple tomato and basil sauce.

I don't think anyone ever would turn up unexpectedly. I could manage, but if I was randomly turning up at someones with little warning I'd probably offer to pick something up or order a takeaway.

I never meal plan though and we do eat quite a lot of bread.

Personally I find it odd that people don't have much food in the house. Anything could happen - snowed in, floods, being too unwell to get to the shop, car breakdown (if you live somewhere far from shops and terrible transport).

I easily have a month's worth of food if not more. I have milk and bread in the freezer. I also have lots of things like pasta, rice, chickpeas, red lentils, green lentils, brown lentils, different beans, tinned tomatoes, frozen veg, meals I have batch cooked and frozen.

Not long after we were married we got snowed in. We lived in Kent but in a pretty built up area so we never expected that.

Also last year our area was flooded and it was impossible to drive anywhere. I never thought that would happen as we live on the top of a hill and nowhere near a river. It was because we had so much rain and the fields were flooded and the water just ran off them.

When lockdown started last year we had no need to go shopping for weeks so no panic buying for us.

Also we both dislike shopping so no way would we go every week. We do a big shop about every 6 to 8 weeks and just buy fruit and veg as we need it

Always have something the freezer just in case. If no unexpected guests you can eat it yourself and replace with something else.

A lot of people would be more than happy with egg and chips or omelette and chips with frozen peas and a tomato (if you have any tomatoes). Make sure there are oven chips in your little freezer.

I’d feel stressed not keeping a small supply of extras in. Not for unexpected guests necessarily but for any unexpected event.

I could probably rustle something up. I usually have more than enough pasta in the cupboard and generally cheese in the fridge, so could manage something involving those. Or a risotto or something as agin usually have more than needed stock cubes, rice and most likely onions or a pepper or something.

But it wouldn't be a great meal! It would be a bit thrown together.

In depends when you came - today for lunch? Be lucky to get a bread crust, let alone a sandwich. Now? Sandwiches galore as just got some bread in.

I could, but we are a family of four, both dh and I are pretty keen cooks and we have a massive chest freezer. I do meal plan,but I also always have lots of stuff in the cupboards and freezer. I must say though, I can't actually remember ever having any adults turn up unexpectedly and want feeding - it just isn't something that happens in my life!